This invention relates to archery equipment and more particularly to an arrow rest for guiding and supporting an arrow on an archery bow.
Arrow rests are well known in the art. Arrow rests provide a support for an arrow prior to and during drawing of an archery bow to a shooting position. Arrow rests also provide a guide for the arrow to aid the arrow in reaching an intended target after it has been released from the bow string.
While almost every arrow rest is capable of providing a support and a guide for an arrow, there are several other functions that an arrow rest must address. Arrow rests must cause a minimal amount of frictional resistance to an arrow. Frictional resistance results in a loss of energy that would otherwise be transferred to the arrow, resulting in a loss of speed and accuracy. Arrow rests should also make minimal contact with the fletching or vanes of an arrow. Vanes are very important to proper arrow flight, and a damaged vane could have adverse effects on the speed and accuracy of the arrow. Additionally, hunters require the arrow rest to be quiet and allow them to draw a bow at various angles without the arrow falling off of the arrow rest. Thus, archery equipment manufacturers have attempted to provide an arrow rest that satisfies all of these requirements.
For Example, U.S. Pat. No. RE38,096 to Branthwaite et al. describes an arrow rest for use with an archery bow. The arrow rest uses an inverted coil brush having a disc-shaped structure. The coil brush includes a plurality of radially disposed, inwardly projecting bristles. The bristles form a central opening in the arrow rest wherein the arrow shaft is radially supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,851 to Graf describes an arrow rest frame with multiple supports. The frame includes first and second projections which define an aperture for radially supporting an arrow.
These invention each provide an arrow rest that is quiet and prevents the arrow from falling off of the rest when the bow is drawn at various angles. However, these rests make substantial contact with the vanes of the arrow. This contact increases the frictional loss created by the arrow rest and hinders the speed and accuracy of the arrow. The contact also reduces the life of the arrow's vanes, especially if helical vanes or feathers are used.
Accordingly, there is a need for an arrow rest that is quiet, prevents the arrow from falling off of the rest, and reduces the amount of contact between the vanes and arrow rest.